Apparatus for illustrating economics by physical analogies



J. D. @oom-:Y 2,526,261l APPARATUS FOR 1L USTRATING EcoNoMIcs BY vPHYSICAL ANALOGIES Oct. 17, 1950 5 sheets-'sheet i Filedv Deo. 8, 1949 INVENTOR. g//ffs Nod/MSV W N W T 7 y Oct. 17, 1950 J. D. MooNEY 2,526,261

APPARATUS PoR ILLUSTRATING EcoNoMIcs BY PHYSICAL ANALOGIES Fim Dec. 8, 1949 5 sheets-sheet 2 INCOME FROM SALES l, ZZ

A INVENToR. Jwfs /Vao/l/f/ BY @Las @met f;

Oct. 17, 1950 J D MooNEY 2,526,261

APPARATUS FoR I'LLUSTRATING ECONOMICS BY PHYSICAL ANALOGIES Fnednec. e, 1949 5 sheets-sheet s Oct. 17, 1950 J. D. MooNl-:Y 2,526,261 APPARATUS FOR ILLUSTRATINO ECONOMICS l BY PHYSICAL ANALOGIES Filed neme, 1949 5 sheets-sheet 4 icl. E.

JNVENTOR.

J4/V55 Woo/Vix BY WMM @a Oct.v 17, 1950 J. D. MooNEY l 2,526,261

. APPARATUS PoP ILLUSTRATING EcoNouIcs BY PHYSICAL ANALOGIES Filed Dec. 8, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 5V F J! J3 I INVENTOR Patentedoct. 17, 195.0'v

OFFICE' APPARATUS 'FOR ILLUSTRATING ECO- NOMCS BY PHYSICAL ANALOGIES James D. Mooney, Oyster Bay, N. Y.

ApplicationDecember 8, 1949, Serial No. 131,806

3 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for illustrating economics by physical analogies especial- 1y with reference tol the distribution of income between series of classified expenditures.

It is designed more particularly tol'illustrate vthe effect of subtracting'from' gross income iirst disbursements, such as'labor and materials, second taxes, and nally the division of the residue between such items as new tooling, replacement of machinery and equipment, expansion of facilities and dividends.

Apparatus designed for this general purpose is disclosed in my prior Patent 2,297,012. In that apparatus, however, the now Vrepresenting the magnitude .of each item was varied by moving a piston along a slot by an electricmotor.

By the present invention the flowis varied more quickly and simply by a series of manually operated valves. The tank which receives the flow of liquid representing gross income is provided with a series of identical apertures. Each aperture has its own individual valve for opening and closing it.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple :graphic means for representing the effect cf income taxes on residual cash and changes in the volume of the latter with variations in vdisbursements, taxes and o'the1 factors.

One suitable form of construction is illustrated,

' by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

,A income.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus as a whole;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the lefthand part of the apparatus with portions .broken away;

Fig. `3 is a section of a detail on theline 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the righthand part of the apparatus with portions broken away;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 1 1 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8 3 of Fig. 7 and Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one end of the receptacle shown in Fig. 8.

The apparatus comprises two interconnected wheeled cabinets l5 and I6. The lefthand one contains a sump for Icolored liquid, such as oil. From the :bottom of this sump leads a pipe I8 connected to the intake of a centrifugal pump |9 driven by a motor 26. The discharge ows by pipe 2| and control valve 24 to a horizontal pipe 22 in aliquid receptacle 25 (Fig. 4). The front of this receptacle turns down to form a wide apron 25 over which the contents of the recep- 2 taclecan overflow. To insure uniform vdepth of liquid over this apron, Ythe pipe 22 is provided with a series of small holes 23 uniformly spaced so that the liquid discharged is evenly distributed along the entire length of thereceptacle. flow of lliquid over the apron 26 represents gross The liquid flowing over-the apron drops into another receptacle 30 provided with a series of holes or apertures 3| (Fig. 4). Each aperture has its individual valve or closing member comprising a ball 32 on a pivotally mounted arm 33. When a plunger 34 is pushed inwardly by means of a handle or knob 35, the arm 33 is swung upwardly into aperture-closing position. When the plunger 34 is'retractedthe arm 33 is free to Vdrop by gravity, thereby allowing free now of lliquid through the aperture 3|. f

At the righthand end of the receptacle 30 is anA overflow trough 40 to carry off ,al1 liquid which does not'pass through the aperture 3|. 'On account of this overflow, the head of liquid above the apertures 3| remains substantially constant. The Volume of liquid passing through each aperture is, therefore, a function of its size. Conveniently, but not necessarily, the apparatus is designed so that when one aperture is open it discharges one-hundredth of the liquid entering the tank. This involves correlating the head of liquid above the apertures, the size of the apertures and the rate at which the liquid is supplied by the pumpl. v

The liquid passing through the apertures 3| `represents disbursements'which have to be subtracted from gross income to arrive at the net income before taxes. Obviously, if each aperture .is capable 'of discharging 1% of the total flow (gross income), the disbursements may be readily computed percentagewise. For example, if 81 apertures are open, that means 81% of the gross income is absorbed by disbursements, leavv charges, Labor, Materials Factory main-v tenance and Administrative and sales. Corresponding to each legend are a predetermined number of channels and associated apertures. While each aperture discharges 1% of the total,

The

3 it is desirable to provide more than 100 apertures to enable sufficient apertures to be allocated to the Various groups to make it possible to show wide variations in each individual group. A convenient total number of apertures is 150.

The liquid overowing through spout 4B discharges into a trough 45 having a series of apertures 46 in its bottom. These apertures discharge liquid onto a Vchannelled apron Lil. No valves are providedso that, while the apparatus is operating, liquid is discharged continuously and uniformly along the entire width of the apron.

Division of Income before taxes into Federal taxes and Residual cash is represented by deflecting part of the liquid flowing down the apron 41 by means of a longitudinally slidable spout 48. The bottom of the apron has graduations thereon from O to 100. When the end of the spout 48 is opposite the 50 mark, for example, that means that half the liquid which runs down the apron flows back to the sump Il by trough 49,- while the other half flows on through the spout 48. This represents the condition created by'payment of 59% income taxes.

Spout 4t discharges into a receptacle 52 by means of a spout i. As shown, no means are provided for dividing Residual cash into its component parts, such as New tooling, Replacement of machinery and equipment, EX- pansion of facilities and Dividends is made, however, for representing the volume of Residual cash after taking out Disbursements and Federal taxes.

For this -p-urpose the receptacle 52 is constructed so that the width of the liquid streams discharging therefrom over the apron 53 is proportional to the rate of supply of liquid to the receptacle. Various means may be employed to accomplish that result. That shown consists of a series of partitions 54 along the bottom of the receptacle 52 arranged between the apertures 55 so that each of the latter has its own liquid compartment. These partitions increase in height from the center or" the receptacle 52 towards both itsends. When the flow of liquid into the middle of the receptacle is small, the apertures near its center are adequate for its discharge. As the ow increases, the level of liquid in the receptacle rises and liquid overflows one or more of therpartitions on either side of the center. In the form of construction illustrated, there are 34 apertures. If liquid is discharged through, say, of them, then the ow is approximately twice what it was when the discharge was through 10 only, and so on.

The provision of separate compartments for each aperture insures that each aperture dis- Provision charges at full bore before any liquid reaches the next aperture. In that way there is a clear line of demarcation between the apertures which are discharging and those which are not.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for illustrating economic vprinciples, comprising a tank, a wide apron above said tank, means for passing a thin stream of liquid over said apron into said tank to represent income, said tank having an overflow at its top and a series of apertures adjacent its bottom, a second wide apron below said apertures with vertical partitions thereon to form channels registering with said apertures, and individual valves for opening and closing said apertures independently of each other to produce variations in total iiow to represent volume of disbursements.

2. Apparatus for illustrating economic laws, including a receptacle, means for supplying liquid thereto at a rate proportional to one of the economic factors to be illustrated, said receptacle having a series of apertures adjacent the bottom oi' the receptacle, an `apron below such receptacle with vertical partitions thereon to form channels registering with said apertures, `partitions across the bottom of the receptacle between each pair of apertures, such partitions being of progressively increasing height from the point at which liquid is supplied thereto outwardly, whereby, as the level of liquid in the receptacle rises due to increases in the rate of supply of liquid thereto, the number of apertures through which liquid discharges increases proportionately.

3. Apparatus for illustrating economic principles, comprising a wide apron, means for passing a stream of liquid over said apron to represent income, said stream being of uniform depth and of xed width, a graduated scale running transversely across said stream graduated from 0 at one margin of said stream to at the other margin, a longitudinally slidable trough in the path of said stream for deflecting a predetermined proportion thereof to represent income remaining after deduction of a specified expense item, the scale and trough being parallel and adjacent to each other to permit the position of the end of the trough to be read on said scale.

JAMES D. MOONEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the rile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,297,012 Mooney Sept. 29. 1942 2,488,423 Mooney Nov. 15, 1949 

